O'Connor calls for education for players
Former Wigan favourite Terry O'Connor has called for the authorities to 'educate people more' in the wake of his old Warriors team-mate Gareth Hock failing a drugs test.
Hock was found to have traces of a metabolite of cocaine in his system after being tested following Wigan's clash with Salford City Reds on June 5.
If a second sample also returns positive on June 30, he faces a UK Sport hearing and a likely ban of two years – by when he would be 27.
O'Connor was one of the older heads at the club when Hock broke into the first team in 2003, and believes not enough is being done to help steer players away from 'the wrong road'.
He said: "I am 100% against drugs in our sport, and it's just a no-no in rugby league, but I really do think it is about educating the players and doing more for them.
"We sign these kids and they go into professional systems at such a young age.
"Gareth Hock, I think, was 12 when he went to Wigan, and he was always earmarked to be a top-line player.
"But if he trains for 20 hours a week, what does he do with the rest of his time?
"I am not defending anybody – but I am looking for reasons why people do these things."
The RFL issued a statement on Tuesday saying they were 'committed to the principles of drug-free sport and working with UK Sport to regularly educate and inform players through its '100% ME' campaign about the dangers of drugs and consequences of taking drugs or breaching the Anti-Doping Regulations'.
It continued: "Every Super League club also has a '100% ME' tutor
responsible for player education both formally and informally.
"All players aged over 14 who make national camp are also educated each year as part of the programme, this equates to an estimated 100 players a year. Parents are also educated as well as part of the programme."
O'Connor, however, believes the message is still not getting through.
"Do we ask enough questions, and do we put enough scenarios in front of players like saying to them: 'If you do this you will lose your house, your car, your job' – and what's going to happen then?" he told Sky Sports.
"Some people take the wrong road, and we need to educate them and find out why they do so.
"I just don't believe that people wake up in the morning and decide to take drugs – whether they are recreational or performance-enhancing.
"I'm not defending anyone – but I do think that, as a sport, we do need to educate people more."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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